


there's something so magic about you

by kranquro



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, M/M, This was supposed to be a one-shot lol, Uagadou School of Magic, Wandless Magic, Werewolf Kiba, foreign exchange, side pairing sasunaru
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 11:00:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24848677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kranquro/pseuds/kranquro
Summary: The Uagadou-Hogwarts Foreign Exchange programme was in it's fifth successive year. It was an enrichment idea started to allow both schools to share their student's expertise. When Kiba, an academically-struggling werewolf, meets Kankuro, a wandless magic expert and his new tutor, he doesn't expect much to lie beneath the gruff exterior and purple face paint.And Kiba was, as he often is, wrong as ever.OrThe Hogwarts KanKiba fic no one asked for but I wrote it anyway.
Relationships: Inuzuka Kiba/Kankurou, Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 42
Kudos: 126





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I ain't even sorry about this.

“You think they have uniforms?”

Naruto had leaned right across the Gryffindor table, his head stuck into the gap between two steaming cauldrons of spiced lamb stew and mashed potatoes. He jerked his head in the direction of the small group of Uagadou students at the end of their table.

There was two of them. Brothers, apparently. The shorter one hair the colour of the banners that floated above them, and accompanied by a stiff expression, black rimmed eyes and vibrant tattoo on his forehead, was drawing the attention of most of the students in the Great Hall that evening. The boy, a sixth year like them, took no notices of all the gawking, and outright ignored the Gryffindor ‘buddy’ he’d been assigned to welcome and guide him around Hogwarts. The other Uagadou student, a seventh year, was dressed entirely in black with bold colour dashed across his face in careful lines. He didn’t ignore his guide, although his face dripped disinterest and disdain.

Neither wore matching outfits. Same as all the other exchange students across the room.

“Doubt it,” replied Kiba. “Although I’m sure Ebisu will have something to say about the face paint and tattoos. He sat up a bit and cast a cursory glance at the other exchange students in the other houses. “Oh man, this sucks,” he said, plopping down again in his seat. “All the other houses got sociable students. While ours look like they’d rather shit in their hands and clap than talk to us.”

“Really?“ Naruto looked around the Great Hall too, as if not believing his friend’s words. Sure enough all the other exchange students were animately chatting with their House representatives. “Shit, you’re right. How did we make out with the gruesome twosome and Slytherin got two cute girls! This is so unfair, they’ll be draped all over Sasuke for the next six months.” Muttering resentfully, Naruto scooped two heaps of mashed potato on his plate and then aggressively fluffed the mush with his fork.

“I wonder where they are staying,” Kiba says, trying to distract Naruto from launching into another tirade about the Slytherin student. Last week, Kiba and many of their friends had returned from spending time with their families over the Christmas holidays to find Hogwarts favourite on-again off-again couple in a decidedly _off_ - _again_ phase. No one knows what happened between the two while they were alone together over Christmas, as both boys had remained in school over the holidays as usual, and decidedly tight-lipped as to what caused this month’s argument. Kiba was just glad their monopoly on the storage closet right outside Gryffindor Tower was over for a while, to give other couples a chance.

Not that Kiba ever got to use it.

Letting out a frustrated growl, Kiba scooped his own mashed potatoes out of the cauldron. But he pulled the spoon a little too hard, not realising his own strength, and the contents went flying behind him.

“Watch out!” Naruto’s call was luckily heard and a Hufflepuff fifth year narrowly avoided a splat of mashed potato to the side of her head. She turned with a outraged expression in their direction and it didn’t disappear when Kiba offered an earnest apology for the accident. Instead she turned to her classmates and offered what must have been a joke at his expense for how the group around her snickered and in turn took the time to sneer at him.

 _Whatever_ , Kiba thought, turning back to Naruto with a glower. _Dickheads_.

“Uggh, I guess I shouldn’t have said anything. Hey, let’s prank them later,” said his friend who could sense his downtrodden mood. “You usually don’t let those kinds of things get to you…Is it that time of the month again?” Usually in the week leading up to the full moon, his body and moods went a bit haywire. At sixteen, his hormones were finally starting to mellow out, but he was still surprised here and there by his changes.

“Yup,” said Kiba. “Will you take good notes this week? Stupid full moon lasts four nights this cycle.” 

“That’s sucks, man. But my notes are gonna suck even _more_. You sure you want mine?” Naruto had created a well in the centre of his potatoes with his fork, and was proceeding to pour lamb stew into the hole.

“Wish there was ramen,” he mumbled.

Kiba watched and thought back on the illegible scribble Naruto had given him the last time he’d asked for notes. The other boy had been raised a muggle, despite his pureblood background, and even after five and a half years he had yet to master a quill and ink. The result was often disastrous, and Naruto’s hands were often stained black from trying to balance the feathers under his fingers. (Often Sasuke showed up to the Great Hall with dark smudges all over his face and neck. Kiba was always quick to raise his hand in a high-five for Naruto when he saw it. Gotta congratulate his bro no matter how much the Uchiha annoyed him.)

“…Maybe I’ll ask Shino instead,” he agreed, with a facetious grin. Naruto returned the smile with a slap on the top of Kiba’s head. The two boys chuckled as they tucked into their dinner.

Not for the first time, he’s glad he has the blond boy in his House. While good friends with Shino and Hinata as children, they had split into different houses upon their arrival to Hogwarts. Soon after that, Kiba’s lycanthropy was outed, and he struggled to make friends who could overlook the curse. Naruto, a fellow outcast, had come to his defence, and the two became fast friends.

And here they were, five years later, starting their last term of their sixth year. They have a steadier group of friends now, and the Gryffindor’s look after them. Sure he still gets some flack every now and again for being a werewolf, but he’s well able to handle it. Naruto stands by him always, his brother in arms, the two of them a disruptive volcanic island blasting away those who would look down on them.

Kiba glances six rows down at the pair of foreign exchange students. They are a staunch island themselves. The older brother often glanced at his younger brother, and the redhead allowed the older to respond in lieu of him. Kiba thinks their island is calmer, yet the waters around it are so dark and so deep it must surely be hiding the wrecks of those who dared approach.

The older sibling barks sharply at the Gryffindor student, obviously finished acquiescing to his eager chatter. Silence reigns from the end of the table for the remainder of dinner, their sour attitudes and stark differences acting like an invisible barrier that blocks the pair from the rest of the students.

Kiba wonders what exactly it is they are protecting themselves against.

—

They pranked the Hufflepuffs later on that week. The group found themselves walking out of the Hufflepuff Common Room to a corridor completely iced over and impassible. Naruto and Kiba threw some quick successive Expelliarmus at the gang from the shadows and while they scrambled across the ice to retrieve their wands and their footing, the cackling pair bolted away before they could get caught.

“Did you see that fifth year’s face?” Tears are streaming down Naruto’s face as they collapse in laughter against the wall outside the Gryffindor common room. “I can’t believe she slapped off the ice immediately!”

“That’s karma,” giggled Kiba. This was why he liked Naruto, the other guy just knew how to cheer him up. Especially as he was one day away from the full moon, Kiba’s pallor appearance giving away how close he was to transformation. He’d laughed so hard he felt slightly nauseous, and he gripped his stomach in discomfort. Oh. No, he actually was _really_ nauseous.

“..I think I’m gonna be sick.”

“Really?!”

“For real,” Kiba said, before gagging on the last syllable and clutching his mouth. Spying the storage room used as the unofficial Gryffindor make out cupboard, he jerked the door open and noticing it was blessedly devoid of lovers, proceeded to empty the contents of his stomach into the mop bucket they used to clean up fire whiskey spills. It stank of cinnamon, and now also of the ramen they’d had for dinner. Naruto and Kiba had been delighted at the menu today. But Kiba wasn’t happy to see it twice.

“Fuck,” he groaned, leaning against the wall and wiping sweat off his brown. “I need to see Professor Kurenai and get out to the forest. Talk to you the weekend?”

“I’ll go with you. Here,” said Naruto as he hefted Kiba’s right arm over his shoulder. The other boy studied Kiba’s sweaty and scrunched-up brow. “This is a bad one, isn’t it?”

“…Yeah. Hasn’t been this bad in a while.” The last full moon Kiba had been at home with his family, with his dog at his side. He missed Akamaru. His dog was staying home this term to help at the clinic, and Kiba missed him fiercely. Would especially miss roaming the forest with him during the shift. His unhappiness was surely radiating off of him in waves.

“Hey, on the plus side?” Kiba perked up when they began shuffling out of the cupboard. Again, Naruto was always ready to cheer him up. “You finally got into the make-out cupboard. I mean, your love-life is non-existent. It’s not like you’ve any other reason to go in.”

“Oh, _fuck off_ ,” Kiba said, and delivered a swift kick to his friends shin. It knocked his balance though, and the blow itself resulted in Naruto stumbling until finally they both fell to the ground in an ungraceful heap.

“Now, _that’s_ karma,” said Naruto. Kiba smacked him once again.

—

Kurenai was waiting for him in her office. The Illusionary Techniques teacher, a newer elective at Hogwarts, sat at her desk with his pain-relief potions placed in front of her. The vials weren’t numerous, just two small bottles; one cloudy and purple, they other was white like milk. Plonking himself in the creaky chair opposite her desk, he grabbed the potions and downed them quickly. He winced at the taste. The potions were nasty.

Apparently not as bad as Wolfsbane though, so he’d learned not to complain.

“All good?” Kurenai put down the scroll she had been reading when he came in. It looked like a third year’s essay by the length. Kiba remembered fondly when his essays were that length, half what they are now, and how even then he’d struggled to complete them.

“I’m worried about my schoolwork again,” admitted Kiba.

“I meant your health.”

“It’s ‘meh’, I suppose. I got sick this time.”

“Hmm, maybe we should be taking these potions earlier in the week?”

“But I’ll miss out on more classes.” Kiba put his head in his hands and scrubbed his hair. He could feel the drowsiness of the potions kicking in. Soon, they would need to start walking to the woods. He wouldn’t transform for a few hours, but it was an easier walk when he wasn’t as dazed from the potions.

“Is Shino or Hinata collecting your homework?”

“Yeah, thank god. I’m never asking Naruto again.”

Kurenai stood then, one hand perched on her back and another clutching her baby bump. She wasn’t due for another eight weeks, but already her stomach looked near full term. The dark-haired professor had acted as mentor to Shino, Kiba and Hinata for the past five years now, as they had come from the same primary school. And while officially she had stopped being their mentor after third year, she still kept in close contact, guiding the three through their school years. She had been the one to explain to the school Kiba’s unique form of lycanthropy, the fact that he wasn’t infectious or a danger to anyone, after he had been unwillingly outed in his first year.

Kiba had been born a werewolf. His bite didn’t spread the disease, he retained his human mind without potions, and he had no bloodthirsty instinct to attack humans. All his family were the same. He took two draughts to stop the pain and exhaustion, and that was it. Kiba could sleep in his bed in Gryffindor Tower the next four days and nobody would be hurt, maimed or killed. Still, once the parents found out there was a werewolf amongst their children, they kicked up a fuss.

And so every month, Kurenai accompanied Kiba to the Forbidden Forest where he transformed into a werewolf, and roamed as a beast.

—

Four days later, Kurenai was there when he came back to himself. Exhaustion weighed down his body until he through he was going to melt through the floor and into the bowels of the Earth. She lifted his head and tilted the milky potion, the same as earlier, to his lips and he drank it down. A trickle escaped to slide over his cheek. He wiped it away and sat up. It was a energising draught, to help him combat the weakness he often felt before and after the full moon cycle. Strength he didn’t have moments before allowed him to stand and follow his mentor as they walked back towards the castle. It was daylight now. And the forest wasn’t as dark as usual. Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the canopy. A quiet thumping could be heard as a squirrel raced back and forth along the branches of the trees, waking from hibernation to stretch it’s legs.

Five hours ago, Kiba would have chased that squirrel with glee. He wasn’t allowed to admit it, considering how much people suffered in the clutches of lycanthropy and the prejudice it’s victims faced, but he enjoyed his time as a wolf. He felt free as a wolf. Freedom he rarely felt elsewhere coursed through him when he was roving through this forest with nothing on his mind but the thrill of the chase and the smell of the outdoors. No snide remarks. No exhaustion. No school work.

It was wonderful. But…now he was back to reality. Or rather, his human reality.

“How am I going to catch up on three days of school work with the amount of essays due in the next week?” Kurenai hummed sympathetically as he groaned in defeat.

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that actually. How would you like to take an extra elective that could improve your overall grade at the end of the year?”

An extra elective? On top of the work he was already struggling to complete? He cast Kurenai a skeptical look, his unruly eyebrows working overtime to show his incredulity.

“Hear me out,” she said, rolling her red eyes and raising her hands in surrender. “It won’t be any extra work. I promise.”

“I’m listening…”

“Okay, so, I’ve been going over your reports and speaking to your professors. Your worst subjects are Charms, Astronomy and Transfiguration, yes?”

“Yes?”

“So I think I could get you some tutoring in those subjects. From an expert.”

“Really?!” Kiba’s eyes lit up at the thought of a tutor. His friends were often too busy to catch him up to speed on his lessons, a tutor is exactly what he needed.

“That would be awesome, professor! Sign me up, right away!”

“Wait, wait, wait…there’s is a slight catch.”

Kiba’s hope fell. There was always a catch. Would he have to muck out the hippogriff pen? Clean the Quidditch pitch showers? Dust the library?

“Lay it on me.”

“So, the Uagadou-Hogwarts Foreign Exchange is an academic based enrichment programme. The Uagadou students come and tutor our students on their areas of expertise and next term, we will send our students to do the same in their school.”

“Right… so I’m to be tutored by one of the Uagadou students?” _Please be one of the cute girls. Please be one of the cute girls. Please be one of the cute girls._

“Luckily for you, two spots have just opened up. I have put you down for one. You have your first session tomorrow.” Great, so he didn’t really have a choice. “Although,” she continued. “You might have met your tutor already. He’s one of the students assigned to sit at the Gryffindor table.”

“Oh, Merlin,” griped Kiba. Of course it would be the gruesome twosome. Whose Gryffindor guides had abandoned them earlier in the week due how unfriendly and standoffish the pair were. “Which one?”

“I can’t rightfully remember. I can find out when we get back.” These were at the outskirts of the forest now. The spires and turrets of the castle could be see through the thinner under canopy. Kiba’s eyes immediately sought out Gryffindor Tower, as they always did.

A wicked idea came to being in his brain.

“Professor, is the other space filled?”

“The tutee space? No, I don’t think so.”

“Naruto was interested in getting some tutoring. I’d reckon he’d love to volunteer too. Could you put his name down?”

“…I don’t see why not,” said Kurenai with a mischievous smile, knowing her student all too well. “On the topic of Naruto, I also wanted to ask you if you know anything about the four Hufflepuff fifth years who were admitted to the hospital wing last Tuesday with all sorts of injuries?”

“…I wouldn’t know anything about that. Sure, I was very ill that day.” His innocent tone was fooling nobody but Kurenai just widened her smile and chuckled to herself.

It was a Saturday, and there was no classes to rush to for either of them. The walk back to school was filled with pleasant conversation, as his professor clued him in on anything he’d missed during the last four days.

At the entrance to the castle, they parted ways. But she called out to hims as he headed back to the Tower for an afternoon nap.

“Sit with the Uagadou boys at dinner tonight and arrange a time for tutoring!”

“…Fuck!,” he exclaimed once he thought she was out of earshot. Two Ravenclaw first years squeaked in shock nearby.

“Language!” Kurenai’s shout echoed down the corridor, calling him out.

Kiba sighed. “Karma.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiba and Naruto begin their tutoring with the Sand Siblings

The silence was painful. So painful, Kiba swore he could hear every conversation from here to the Slytherin table.

Naruto picked up his knife and began aggressively slicing his steamed carrot, all the while making eye contact with Kiba across from him. The knife clinked loudly against the ceramic plate, and it was the only sound between the four people at the end of the Gryffindor table. To his right sat the redheaded Uagadou student, silent as the grave. The guy with the face paint held a look of utter disdain, whether it was the food or this situation, Kiba couldn’t tell.

He looked back at Naruto. The blond pointed his knife at the sliced up carrot and mouthed, _that’s your dick._ Kiba cleared his throat awkwardly.

“I’m Inuzuka Kiba, by the way,” he introduced himself. “And this is my friend Uzumaki Naruto. We’re sixth years.”

“We don’t care.” The boy in black seemed content to lead the conversation for his brother once again.

Naruto visibly bristled opposite him and turned with his mouth half open to clearly yell at the boy. Kiba quickly kicked him under the table, unwilling to give up this tutoring opportunity no matter how rude these guys were. Naruto choked and grabbed at his shin, before kicking Kiba back just as hard.

Kiba flashed his friend a meaningful look as if to say _your turn to start a conversation._ Naruto slumped and looked down at his half-eaten dinner in defeat. “So, how do you like the food? Different to home?”

“It sucks,” said the boy.

“Of course it does,” muttered Kiba under his breath.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” The face paint looks more intimidating when it’s trained on you with the full-force of a dirty look. Irritated, Kiba forces himself to shrug, but he can feel his own face drawing into a scowl.

“Nothing,” he said, trying to look unbothered by the other’s aggression. The two stare at each for a few more tense moments. Kiba waited, refusing to look away first, until the other party in their impromptu staring contest ripped his eyes towards his brother with a snarl.

“Gaara,” said the boy as he threw his fork back down onto his plate. “Can we leave?”

Obviously receiving an affirmative from his younger brother, although Kiba didn’t notice ‘Gaara’ do anything, the two slung their strange packs over their shoulders and silently left the Great Hall. Even so, curious eyes turned to peer at Naruto and Kiba, wondering what the two had done to scare away their guests. They ducked their heads, flushing from the awkward attention.

“Fuck, man. That didn’t go that well,” said Naruto, stating the obvious.

“Nope.”

“Do you think they’ll even show up to the tutoring session tomorrow?”

“Probably not.”

“…fuck.”

“Yup,” said Kiba with a finishing popping sound.

Naruto sighed and then, as usual, looked over at the Slytherin table. No doubt Sasuke was there, mopey as a rule, ignoring his little posse of weirdos he’d managed to wrangle together into a clique of sorts. Kiba refused to follow his friend’s eyeline, but he could tell from the way Naruto pulled his lips back over his teeth, that that girl Karin was probably hanging all over Sasuke like a bad smell.

“I don’t know why he won’t do this one little thing for me,” complained Naruto. “I’ve done it plenty of times for him. It’s not a bit deal!”

“Oh, Merlin…so _now_ you want to talk about it?”

“No! I don’t I just-uggh-forget him!” His friend began furiously spearing his carrots with his fork until around six stacked slices were skewered on the utensil. “Let’s just go to the pitch and wallop some bludgers at the goals.”

“You got it, bud,” agreed Kiba. “We can pretend the bludger is Sasuke’s face? Would that make you feel better?”

“…Yeah,” mumbled Naruto. Kiba could see his lips quirking upwards at the corners. “Maybe.”

—

“I call dibs on the quiet one,” says Kiba. “You can have that older guy.”

“Better the demon you know that the demon you don’t know.”

“Is that what they told you when they cursed you with your foxy pal?“ Naruto only cuffed Kiba across the shoulder for his tease, long-accustomed to Kiba’s humour.

“No,” said Naruto, breaking into a jog and turning to jibe at his friend. “It’s what your mom said last night when I asked her why she picked up a mutt like you at the pound.”

“Oi!” Kiba takes off after the blond, the corridors passing in a blur.

They are on their way to the library, dashing by the portraits on the Grand Staircase. However Kiba and Naruto, as their custom, pause and throw double middle fingers up at the painting of Edgar Littlechild. The founder of the Owl Post Office turns scarlet as the two boys jeer obscenities up at him. Unknown to many, despite his accomplishments, Mr. Littlechild was also the spreader of false anti-werewolf propoganda across the UK in the 1680s which let to the deaths of many innocent victims suffering from lycanthropy. Kiba and Naruto made it their daily ritual to flip the bird at the portrait, and they were in the process of convincing Headmaster Tsunade to remove the painting. Naruto has said that Sakura would help them draft the letter, once she was finished with her study for their potions exam next week.

Which is actually the same potions exam they should be studying for right now. Or rather, Naruto should be studying for. Kiba was alright at potions, he’d concocted lots of draughts for him mother and sister at their clinic, so he knew the theory. But he wasn’t very good at teaching others. They reached the library at just four, and perched themselves just inside the entrance to wait for their partners.

“I kinda hope they don’t show,” said Kiba. “If we get out early we might be able to catch Shino and Hinata for a round or two of Exploding Snap. I haven’t hung out with them in aaaaages.”

“Oh, can I join?” Naruto raised his fists, the excitement bright in his eyes.

“Oh course, if you don’t mind sitting at the Hufflepuff table,” teased Kiba.

“ _I_ don’t mind sitting at _any_ table.” The blond adopted an undecipherable pout and folded his arms with a huff. Kiba frowned in confusion, but before he could ask, their two tutors were led into the library by a man who seemed not to care for the sanctity of the place at all, considering the volume of his voice as he chided the two on an all manner of things. Half his face was hidden by a hanging white sheet, and it fluttered slightly as he leaned his head down into the space between the brothers. Strong hands gripped a shoulder each between the pair.

“Now remember, I report directly to your sister, so no stepping out of line. This is a compulsory condition for your exchange.” The older boy rolled his eyes, but that changed to a wince as the professor grasped him shoulder and _squeezed_.

Hard.

“Kankuro, take this seriously. I don’t need to remind you what the consequences are. Buck up, or you will be shipped back to Suna, not Uagadou, quicker that you can say ‘ _Lord Kazekage_ ’.” The boy, Kankuro, tsk-ed and looked away. Gaara’s shoulder was clutched a lot gentler as the handler lowered his mouth to his ear. Even so, with the silence of the library around them, it wasn’t difficult to make out what the other said.

“Gaara, please don’t kill anyone, okay?”

The redhead titled his head slightly, the only indication that he had heard. Kiba’s felt his eyes widen until they stung, and a quiver shot up his arm where Naruto stirred uncomfortably beside him. He risked a glance at his friend and realised they shared twin expressions of fear. Naruto’s lips moved and he read the mouthed _what the fuck?_ sent his way. Kiba shrugged in response.

When he turned back he found the Uagadou chaperone watching them, waiting expectantly.

“Well,” said Kiba, with more courage than he felt. “Follow us to the study rooms. We want to finish in time for dinner.” Kiba turned and led the group into the depths of the library. He didn’t turn around to check, but he heard three sets of footsteps follow behind him, creaking across the floorboards in a rhythm not dissimilar to his racing heartbeat.

Once they arrived at the study rooms, Kiba stopped outside the two they had booked. He stood at the door and indicated that they should go inside. Naruto went in first, followed by Gaara, however when the blond turned as saw the redhead he spoke up “Actually you’re with-“

“-Okay, good luck you two!” Kiba then closed the door quickly and tried to unsuccessfully shuffle Kankuro into the other study booth. The door opened again behind him and Naruto’s head popped out.

“Nuh-uh, Kiba. This ain’t what we agreed. This was _your_ idea.”

“Five galleons, and a butterbeer.”

“Nope.”

“Five galleons, and _two_ butter beers.”

“Getting there.”

“Five galleons, two butter beers and…I’ll buy you ramen next time we’re in the city.”

“Hmmm,” considered Naruto, scratching his chin.

_“Ichiraku_ ramen _.”_

“Deal,” accepted Naruto, and closed the door once again. Kiba noticed then that Kankuro had disappeared, only to soon catch sight of him already leaning back in a chair in the study room. His legs were up on the desk, and the strange pack he wore over his shoulder was leaning against the back wall. Kiba would say he looked relaxed and nonchalant, if not for the stormy expression on his face. He smelled like burnt wood, and vanilla. The smoky sweetness of his scent didn’t tie in at all with the scowl he’s adopted. Somehow the drastic purple makeup made his look even more severe. So much so, that Kiba wondered if he’d offended the other.

“My brother’s not a monster,” said Kankuro. Ah, so he _had_ offended him.

“I didn’t say he was.”

“Tsk,” scoffed Kankuro. “You’re all the same, you morons. You don’t know anything.”

Kiba bristled at the accusation. As if he didn’t know what is was to be called a monster. Anger created a ball in his throat, and unknowingly, he let out a warning growl.

A look of amused disgust passed across Kankuro’s face. “A growl?” He laughed. “This shit school hardly lets beasts on the premises?”

At that moment, Kiba is very aware that he has just come back from a particularly long full moon cycle.So when Kankuro’s words course through him, igniting the blood in his veins , it takes all his strength, and five years of Kurenai’s gentle counselling, to allow him to simply turn around and leave the room. Even so, he feels the claws stretch out from his fingers, and the fangs ache in his jaw. He wants to slash and crush, and that’s nothing to do with his werewolf instinct. Instead, he raps on the door of the study room next door. Naruto’s head pops out again, and Kiba’s says two words-

“Littlechild. Swap.”

-that has his friend nod once then promptly leave his study room and enter the one Kiba had left Kankuro behind in. It was their code for the anti-werewolf crowd at school, and while Kiba wasn’t sure that’s what the Uagadou student meant, it was better to be safe than sorry with Kiba still so close to the full moon. He gave himself another forty seconds, as he willed his claws and fangs to recede, then he entered the room to begin his study session with his original partner.

—

The tutoring hadn’t been that bad. Surprisingly, Gaara actually spoke. His voice was deeper than Kiba had expected, but also calm, allowing him to easily follow his tutorial on his astronomy assignment. There was no small talk, or idle chit-chat. Gaara didn’t say anything more than he needed to. He didn’t even uncross his arms. His entire being was succinct. And when Kiba dotted the last full stop on the scroll, the redhead stood and without a word, left the room.

He left the scent of blood before.

Kiba bent to pack up his things. The two siblings hadn’t appeared at any meal times today, Kiba wondered where they went if they weren’t eating the kitchen’s food.

Naruto was waiting for him outside. Kankuro must have left already. “That wasn’t so bad,”offered Kiba. “Got my essay done.”

“It really wasn’t. He gave some really good notes on how to make Amortentia. I learned more than I ever did in class. I might actually be able to make it next week for the exam.”

“Awesome, man.”

“Thanks. He didn’t say anything, you know. Kankuro.”

“About…?”

“I don’t think he guessed about you, if that’s what you’re worried about. It was probably just a joke.”

“Still, I wasn’t taking the chance. Too much of those bigots are calling me out these days. I can’t help it when I hear stuff this close to the full moon..”

“What did he say?”

“I accidentally growled, and he said something like ‘can’t believe they’re letting beasts into this shit school’. Sorry, man. I just saw red.”

“Better to be safe that sorry,” said Naruto slinging an arm over his friends shoulder. “C’mon, let go get dinner and find Shino and Hinata for that game.”

Kiba smiled. “Alright.”

—

He’d like to say the rest of his week goes well. That he caught up on all his homework, and played Exploding Snap with Shino and Hinata until their fingers were singed. That Naruto and Sasuke made up, from whatever stupid argument they were having that caused his friend to quieten more every day. That the Uagadou brothers turned up to meals once again, and shared hilarious stories of their travels with Kiba and Naruto over delicious dinners. That he hadn’t thrown up every night for the past four days, after he got back from the forest. He’d like to say that. He would.

But it wasn’t true.

So when he’s cornered by a gang of menacing Hufflepuff students, he’s just surprised it took until Thursday for his week to go from’ a bit crap’ to ‘absolute shit’.

It was late. Or early. And someone must have been taking note of his trips to the third floor boy’s lavatory at this time every night, when he felt most nauseous and unwilling to wake his dorm mates with the sounds of his heaving.

“Accio wand.” That was the only warning he got that he wasn’t alone before his wand flew from his pyjama shorts and into the hands of his perpetrators. The gang was mostly seventh years, although Kiba spots a few familiar faces from the group they’d pranked with the ice last week. Ah, so this was the payback. Nausea swirled in his stomach.

A fist flies in his direction and he leans back to dodge, bring his shoulders into heavy contact with the cabinet behind him. It rattles ominously, and Kiba realises they’ve caught him in the Trophy Room. Stuck against the surface, he glimpses awooden plaque tottering precariously in the cupboard at his eye level. It falls over entirely as a punch the next lands squarely in his stomach, and Kiba loses his fight with his nausea. Vomit spews from his mouth and all over the front of his assailant, who rears back with a shriek.

“Get it off! Get it off! It’ll infect me! Quick!” The boy turns to face his friends in desperation,and as they cast quick _scourgify_ ’s on the mess, Kiba takes the opportunity to get a head start down the corridor. The Hufflepuff’s block the way to Gryffindor Tower, but he’s sure he can cut through the Armour Room and take the long way back, avoiding Filch all the same. He’ll get Naruto to summon his wand back as soon as he returns. He’s almost at the turn off for his escape when suddenly his legs stop moving, and his body slams to the ground. _Non-broken noses are overrated anyway_ , he thinks, as his face connects hard with the ground.

“You disgusting piece of shit,” shouts a voice from the other end of the corridor. “Don’t think we’re getting any closer to scum like you who’d go around infecting innocents! Here, hope this cures you!” One seventh year girl, with scowl to rival Professor Snape’s portrait, throws an unidentifiable blue spell as the cabinets to his left and then one to his right. The cases begin shaking in an almighty clamour, and the students quickly cast spells to silence the room.

“Hey! Let me go, dickheads! I’ll beat the shit out of you fair and square, you cowards!” Kiba has a moment to think that this would never have happened had Akamaru been here, and he missed his best friend at that moment. But before he could even begin trying to pull his legs from the sticky floor, the cabinets around him burst open, and hundreds of silver trophies fill his vision as they hurtle towards him. He barely has time to cover his head before they pummel him.

And it _hurts_. The initial thuds of the heavy prizes bruise his skin all over until he is completely covered in smarting limbs and layers of metal. And still the trophies keep coming, until they must cover him like a burial mound. It’s heavy, and suddenly Kiba is finding it difficult to breath.

But still the silver builds up, and Kiba doesn’t know how to tell them, couldn’t tell them if he tried, that silver is worthless again his lycanthropy, but a hundred pounds of academic and sporting mementos might just about take care of his human life.

“Hey! You’re gonna kill me!” But it’s useless, all he can hear is the _ding ding ding_ of silver hitting silver until suddenly he can’t heard anything at all. Well, not nothing, his feet suddenly come unstuck and he can move again, feeling the weight above him shift encourages him to dig his face out of the metal. He can hear something now, a series of clicking and squeaking that’s such a familiar noise to him, he isn’t surprised to see a colony of bats circling the group of Hufflepuff’s nearby when he emerges from the pile, heaving air into his lungs. Bats have long since been his companions in the forest, during his nights howling at the moon.

The bats chase his attackers down the corridor, and the trophies around him begin to shift. That’s when he notices the hands, emerging from the darkness of the Armour Room. They are encased in half-fingered gloves and Kiba watches as the digits twitch and wiggle in claw-like poses. The trophies around him move to the motion of the fingers and Kiba is captivated as he watches his limbs slowly become unearthed from the hoard.

Wandless magic.

He has only caught glimpses of some of his professors use it, considering what skill and talent it took to master. Professor Flitwick had dropped his wand once and with a simple wave of his hand, it had lunged back into his palm like it belonged there. But this was no quick trick, this was _skill_. Trophies were flying back into cupboards and each one placed carefully in it’s correct spot until Kiba sat on the floor by himself, as if his torment had never happened. He closes his gaping mouth with a click. Turning to the Armour Room entryway, the hands were gone, and so was whoever they were attached to, whoever had saved him. He scented the air.

Burnt wood, and vanilla.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiba resolves to find Kankuro, and discovers some feelings instead.

Kankuro doesn’t show up at breakfast the next day.

Kiba wouldn’t say he’s surprised. But he is when Gaara silently approaches the table alone halfway through the meal. A cornflake drops from his spoon and hits his milk with a plop.“Oi, demonbrain,” says Kiba kicking Naruto under the table and nodding his head in Gaara’s direction where the boy is inspecting a fruit bowl beside them.

Gaara pauses, and then looks up. Right at them. He watches expectantly.

“Good morning?,” says Naruto awkwardly, suddenly unaware what to do in the case of this boy actually acknowledging their presence.

“It is morning,” he replies, simply grabbing apples from the fruit bowl in front of them. Seemingly satisfied with two pink-hued fruits, he then turns around and walks out of the hall once again. Kiba, Naruto and much of the Gryffindor table stare after him.

“Wasn’t that the guy you said _killed_ people?!” Crumbs of toast spew from Chouji’s mouth as he frantically gestures at Gaara’s retreating back.

“ _Shut up_ ,” hisses Kiba, terrified the boy might hear. “And we said he _might_ kill people. It’s not confirmed.”

“Scary,” says Chouji, tucking back into his breakfast. “Guess he’s hungry though.”

Hungry enough to return later on for lunch. This time, Gaara sits in his usual spot. And Kiba is completely baffled. Why was he here? And where’s Kankuro?

He spies a platter of apples further down the table. “Hey, Gaara. There are some apples down there if you want them.”

“I don’t like apples,” was the curt reply.

Naruto and Kiba look at each other with twin dumbfounded expressions. Kiba asks, “…then how come you got some at breakfast?”

But there was no response. He sighs. And then the sigh turns into a groan as Rock Lee drops himself down into Kankuro’s regular spot, completely oblivious to their guest.

“Naruto! Guy-sensei has shown me a new training regime that, combined with your demon stamina, could really give up the edge over the Slytherins in our next game. It focuses on one-handed broom work.” He explains the idea enthusiastically to Naruto and Kiba. Lee was the one who’d introduced them to Quidditch back in their second year. His Chaser skills were monstrous, but his work ethic was killer. Kiba already felt sore listening to the fitness routine he was describing. “Do you think that would work, Naruto? I know you’re forbidden from using the demon thing in actual games, but could it work for just training?” Lee’s excitement is contagious and Kiba can’t help smiling along. Naruto is beaming too. Not many of their peers take the time to understand Naruto’s condition. Lee was one of the exceptions.

“Sure, Lee! I don’t see wh-“

“Why do you keep saying ‘demon’?” Gaara’s low voice broke through the clamor of the hall like a ship parting the sea. Kiba swore it’s the first time he’s heard the boy speak that wasn’t an answer to a direct question. Lee turns, as if only noticing the boy sitting across from him at that moment.

“Oh! Hello! I am sorry I didn’t introduce myself. I’m Rock Lee, seventh year student and Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team! Pleased to meet you!” A thumbs up is then thrust in Gaara’s face, causing his eyes to widen slightly. Kiba, sitting beside him, swears he reels back a centimetre or two. “And you must be Gaara from Uagadou! Welcome to Hogwarts, are you enjoying your stay? Have you seen our youthful Quidditch team in action yet?”

Gaara stares at the bandaged fist in front of him, then completely disregards it, and looks over at Naruto to repeat his question.

“Why do people call you ‘demon’?”

Lee’s hand lowers, and his whole being slightly deflates at being ignored. But he keeps his wide smile in place as Naruto stumbles through the explanation Kiba’d heard a hundred times before.

“Well, you see, I mean I don’t really _know_ you,” he begins, but Gaara stares impassively back as if it would never cross his mind that he was making Naruto uncomfortable. He just waits as Naruto begins brush the back of his head with his hand, a nervous gesture of his. “Ah, I guess it’s doesn’t matter. Everyone knows. I was cursed as a baby with a demon sealed inside me. It has side effects. Some good, some bad. That’s about it, actually.” Naruto finishes with an awkward chuckle and the three of them eyeball Gaara for his reaction.

“We are kindred,” says Gaara thoughtfully, and then continues with his lunch. The three boys make eye contact and notice each other’s confusion. Kiba’s curiosity wins out first.

“What does that mean?”

Gaara speaks without looking at them. “I have a demon sealed inside me also.” He points to the symbol on his forehead. “Cursed.”

“REALLY?!” Naruto’s shriek echoes across the hall. Kiba turns around and people a definitely staring. Even Sasuke has perked his head up from the Slytherin table, even if it its only to scoff at the noise. Naruto lowers his head consciously, looking about the room. “Really? You’re cursed too? How? When? Why?”

If Gaara seems overwhelmed by the questions, he doesn’t show it. Instead he answers every one, and even asks Naruto some of his own. The conversation continues at dinner, with Kiba even swapping his seat so Naruto doesn’t have to lean across the table to hear Gaara’s replies. The blond is more animated that he’s been in weeks. Kiba figures this is the first time he’s ever had someone to talk to who truly knows what he’s gone through. So he leaves him to it, and chats to Lee where he sits with the seventh years to his right.

The seat to Kiba’s left remains empty.

—

After dinner, he searches the castle. The owlery, the library, the grounds. He scents the corridors and halls until he catches a hint of burnt wood, and follows it until it leads him to the Armour Room where he’s encountered the Hufflepuff’s the night before. Kankuro’s not there. But the scent is strong enough that it tells him he is a regular visitor. So he finds an windowed alcove with large curtains draping either side, and pulling them closed, he sit’s on the window seat, and waits.

And waits.

And _waits_.

At some point he must have fallen asleep, as he’s roused by the clock tower striking midnight. The chiming is dulled to the dormitories, so as to protect the sleep of the students, but here it rings loud and jarring to Kiba’s sensitive ears. Neck cracking and lips smacking, he sits forward on the seat and looks around him blearily. Why wasn’t he in his room again?

“Good morning,” says Kankuro, sitting on the opposite side of the bench.

Oh yeah, _that’s_ why.

Without that ridiculous hood, his smug grin appears appears less caricature, and dare he say it, more _handsome_. But reminding himself that this guy had offended him, he tries to shut down that train of thought. He shuffles awkwardly, hoping it comes off more that he’s embarrassed at being caught napping than his appreciation of this painted weirdo’s looks. The curtain is still drawn, and the alcove is chilly from the cold sweeping in through the window. It hasn’t snowed yet this season, but the sky threatens to collapse with flakes soon. Kiba’s shaky exhale materialises in the form of a wispy white breath. He’s glad he’d worn his thicker cloak today.

Kankuro doesn’t look like he’s dressed well-enough to come sit in a chilly corner of the Armour Room. As well as his hood, he’s lost his outer black robe layer, revealing mesh t-shirt and a button-up black sleeveless shirt. None of it looks like uniform, and there’s no crest for his school either. His chest is heaving slightly, sending condensation across the glass beside him as he turns to look in the direction of the clock tower.

“What are you doing here?” Curiosity wins out first with Kiba.

“Training,” comes the reply, surprising Kiba with the honesty.

“So were you training last night? When you decided to help me out?” Kiba folded his arms across his chest, ready to hear this guys explanation.

“How did you?…Nevermind. Sure, I was training.”

“I didn’t need help your know. I could have handled it,” said Kiba, indignant.

Kankuro scoffs. “Oh, you we’re _handling_ it, were you? You didn’t even have a wand. You Hogwarts students are useless without your wands.”

Kiba felt the walnut wood against his wrist where the stick was shoved up his sleeve. He’d found it on the Trophy Room floor last night, and was glad he didn’t need to ask Naruto to summon it. It meant he didn’t need to say anything to his friend about the incident at all. He would only want more retaliation, whereas Kiba just wanted to let it go.

He sighed, suddenly tired. “Look, I get it. We’re all weak here…and savage…or whatever,” he finished lamely. “I just wanted to say…thanks.”

Kankuro looks away from the window. “Thanks?” His face paint is starting to smudge between his brows. He clearly frowns too much for someone his age.

“Yeah, thanks,” he says, shrugging.

“That’s weird.”

Kiba is perplexed. “What’s weird? You helped me. I’m thanking you.”

“You weren’t very _thankful_ the other day for my tutoring.”

“That’s different!”

“Different how?”

“Because- Look, it doesn’t matter!” Kiba pinches his brow with his thumb and forefinger and takes a calming breath. “I’m giving you gratitude for saving me. My mother raised me right, dammit.”

“Well, my mother didn’t raise me at all.” If Kankuro was saddened by his lack of a maternal figure in his life, he doesn’t show it when he leans towards Kiba until their feet are almost touching. “And I operate under the system of favours.”

It clicks with Kiba then. “Why am I not surprised? So…I owe you?”

“Exactly.” Kankuro’s sly smile is made all the more menacing by the purple face paint that pulls upwards from his lips in a geometric grin. “You owe me. And I’ll cash that in right now.”

Kiba groans. He throws his head back until it hits the wall with a solid thud. “Fuck my life.Okay, what is it?”

“It’s Kiba, right?”

“Yeah?”

Kankuro hops down from his perch on the window seat. “Follow me, Kiba,” he instructs as he slips through the heavy curtains and into the adjoining corridor.

It’s warmer when Kiba finally pulls himself from the safety of the alcove. Kankuro is checking one of two burnished suits of armour.He lifts the helmet off, checks something on the inside and then places it back on. Standing back, he lifts a hand and upon the waggling of his finger, the suit promptly does an about turn and marches back into line amongst the dozens more as they line the corridor. It’s unoiled knees screech in an almighty amount of noise, so Kiba pulls the wand from his sleeve and casts a quick _Muffiato_ on the hall. The last thing they need is to be caught by Filch or Mrs Norris.

“Oh, wow, looks like that wand is good for something,” teases Kankuro. “Maybe you should have used it last night?”

“Shut up, dickhead.” Kankuro only snickers in response.

“Right, this is what I want you to do. No, keep your wand out. I want you to duel with me.”

“Duel? With you?”

“Against me.” Kankuro stands there arms at his sides, making no attempt to reach for his pockets. “I can duel against myself. But it’s like playing wizarding chess against yourself, never as fun as having an actual challenger.”

“So, how does that work? The wandless magic?”

Kankuro just gives him a smug look and goes to stand a bit further down from Kiba in the centre of the corridor. Kiba eyes the suit of armour to his left, then the glittering eyes of the other boy in the torchlight. Kankuro’s body has melted into the darkness. His painted face the only thing that stands out. It reminds Kiba of some of the ominous white masks that hang in Professor Kakashi’s office. Except this one is looking back at him like some eldritch creature. “Start,” he coaxes, and from the way his face lowers slightly, Kiba can tell he’s dropped to a crouch.

The wand in Kiba’s hand is damp, and a twist in his palm does little to help. Raising his arm in front of him, he tries to think of his first spell. Obviously _Expelliarmus_ is out the window here, as is _Accio_ or any other type of summoning charm. He settles for an easy _Confundo_ , aiming to test the other’s reaction.

The spell never reaches Kankuro.

Instead it bounces harmlessly off the suit of armour which has sprung in front of Kiba. All at once, Kiba realises he is at a supreme disadvantage in this duel and immediately goes on the defence. He points his wand at himself and says “ _Evanesco_!” He vanishes, and leaps backwards to escape a heavy swipe of the enchanted armour’s arm. _That would definitely have hurt, Kankuro isn’t here to play,_ he thought. Then the suit stills.

He sees then that his actual opponent has vanished, and the corridor lays empty before him. He runs past the empty alcove and pushes the curtain inwards, making it look like he has escaped inside to hide. Instead he crosses the hall and slips between two more suits of armour, and waits.

The silence in the corridor now is eerie, following the deafening noise of the clanking armour. Kiba risks a sniff. He can smell Kankuro. Not to the left or right but _above_ him. He looks up, just in time for his foe to fall from the air and right in front of him. Before he can cast off a curse, four metal arms suddenly engulf him in a tight hug, trapping him between the two suits of armour.

He’s miscalculated this whole situation. It lasted less than two minutes.

“Yield?”

“Yield,” he agrees. The suits of armour don’t move to release him as Kankuro bends down close to his face. Kiba grits his teeth. It annoys him that the other boy is taller. “That was…kinda cool,” he admits.

Kankuro laughs, and Kiba can see the pink of his tongue as it presses against his teeth. “We’ll need to train you up. You have almost no idea how to duel against wandless magic.”

Kiba tries to extract himself from the solid embrace around him. The arms don’t budge except to squeak slightly. “You mean,” he grunts, struggling. “I have to do this again?”

“But, you owe me, don’t you?” Kankuro tries for an innocent look, but it soon turns wicked. “I mean, I could just leave you here. But I think I like you all trapped and at my mercy.” A solitary finger comes up to brush against his jaw and he gulps as it trails down over his Adam’s apple. “You did well, trying to trick me.” Kankuro pulls the finger back up Kiba’s neck to hover imperceptibly across the shell of his ear. His eyes close shut unwittingly as he lets out a quick gasp. His ears have always been sensitive. They sprung open again when he hears a loud snap. Immediately the suits of armour release him, and he opens his eyes to see Kankuro now standing a few feet back, putting needed distance between them.

“Come back here tomorrow,” Kankuro says, pulling a pink apple from his pocket. He takes a bite then turns and walks down the corridor. He clicks his fingers again and all the suits of armour clink back into place, as if Kankuro had never been there. “Same time,” he calls over his shoulder.

Kiba stands there, gobsmacked. That was not how he expected this night to go down. For one, he had no idea what exactly Kankuro had in store for him. And secondly, he was _definitely_ attracted to this guy.

Kiba slipped into a squat, covering his face with his hands, and groaned so loud he hoped the _Muffliato_ spell was still intact.

—

Kiba shuffles awkwardly into the Great Hall the next morning, sure the blush on his face alerted every student to his thoughts. He’d woken from sleep early, despite the late hour he’d crept into his bunk, to find his crotch a sticky mess and his thoughts full of his new duelling partner. Kiba’s dreams had struggled to imagine the other without face paint, but it had made up for that with what Kiba thought to be a pretty accurate account of what his body would be like over him. Heat rose in his cheeks again as he recounted the dream, and how Kankuro had used wandless magic in very imaginative ways. He stumbles awkwardly into his free seat at the bench opposite Naruto, who took pity on him and attempted to fix his breakfast. The cornflakes scatter everywhere when he tries to shake them into the bowl.

“Watch out, klutz,” says an amused voice to his left.

Kiba stills. From the side of his eye, his fears are confirmed. Kankuro is back at breakfast.

“What are you doing here?”

“Having breakfast?” Kankuro says it like he hadn’t skipped meals for the better part of a week. Gaara sat across from them, listening idly as Naruto complains loudly in his ear about Sasuke. He gestures to the two. “I heard my brother made a friend.”

“Yeah,” says Kiba, trying to pick up the spilled cereal, until suddenly a warm body presses against his in an unbroken line all the way from his shoulder to his feet. Kiba stiffens again on the bench, but doesn’t move.

“I guess I made a friend too,” teases Kankuro. Kiba blushes tenfold, the heat surely radiating off of him in waves.

“Yeah,” he says into his cereal, feeling brave. “Maybe you did.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone has any questions about how this AU, contact me on Tumblr under the username krankuro. Just incase you're confused about something i probably haven't made clear or bothered to include.
> 
> Thank for reading! x


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, what's Sasuke's deal?

It’s not that he’s lying. He just doesn’t outright say ‘Oh, by the way, I’m a werewolf’. Maybe he’s still a bit afraid of being rejected. Afraid of being called a beast. He still isn’t sure where Kankuro stands with lycanthropy. And Kiba has been burned before. So he decides to wait and see, resolving that if Kankuro did ask, Kiba would be truthful. 

They’ve gotten closer. A lot closer. Kankuro and Gaara start attending every meal again, despite Kankuro’s grumbling about the food. Lee joins them often too, and then Choji, and soon they’re engaging with their wider friend group. The end of the Gryffindor table becomes more boisterous, drawing frowns from those around them who had grown used to the awkward silence from before.

(Kiba’s getting familiar with Sasuke’s stink face.)

The tutoring yields results, and Kiba and Naruto score well on their first essays back after Christmas, despite the lack of sleep. The armour room training has continued, and Kiba becomes more adept at combatting Kankuro’s unique ‘puppet’ style of magic. He even managed some wandless magic of his own. 

“It moved!” Kiba says, hovering over a silver armour gauntlet. The middle finger of the glove twitches in response to the movement of his own fingers, although it’s taking all of his concentration just to do that. “It’s hard. But I’m imagining sending out a string of magic, like you said. It’s working!” He turns to smile at Kankuro. And the other boy crouches down and is smiling back. It takes Kiba by surprise for a moment. Kankuro isn’t secretive with his smiles, but they always have an edge. Teasing, nasty, flirtatious. The look on his face now, sans face paint, is so genuine. 

“That’s amazing,” says Kankuro. And it’s clear how sincere he is, how genuinely happy he is that Kiba has succeeded. Not many people think Kiba is amazing. Not with his curse. A twinge in his heart makes him turn away with a blush.

Kankuro might not think he’s so amazing when he finds out he’s a werewolf. 

And he doesn’t know why is bothers him so much. Why he keeps it to himself. Like a shameful secret. But for now, he wants Kankuro to look at him like this, with pride, and not with disgust.

He lets out a shaky breath and stands, wiping his hands awkwardly on his trousers. “Let’s finish here for today. I’m tired.” It’s true, he’s nearing the full moon again. Time has passed so quickly. The January chill is giving way to February growth, and Kiba is growing wearier as the waxing moon makes it’s way across the sky. 

Kankuro doesn’t say a word, simply nods with confusion. Kiba feels unsettled, and leaves first. The same confusion is etched across his face when Kiba disappears for three days the following week, and reappears without a word.

—

Sasuke appears behind Naruto at the Gryffindor table one morning in February. At first, Kiba nearly mistakes him for one of the house ghosts, considering how pale and wan he looks, and also the fact that Sasuke never approaches the Gryffindor table. Naruto is always the one trailing over to him, and even sitting with the Slytherin’s sometimes. Never the other way around. It’s surreal to see him here, with the glow of the fireplace behind them illuminating his face. Kiba doesn’t understand what Naruto sees in this guy, but them again his current crush sits beside him in a cat hood and purple face paint. 

The heart wants what the heart wants.

“Who’s this guy?” Kankuro doesn’t bother whispering, elbowing Kiba at the same time. Naruto looks up then from where he had been chatting to Gaara about their upcoming Quidditch game against Slytherin. Kiba watches a range of emotions flit across his friend’s face. Surprise. Confusion. Then finally, feigned indifference. 

“Sasuke,” he says coolly. “Did you need something? I’m busy.”

Naruto is pouting with a haughty look on his face, and it clearly sets Sasuke off as he glowers immediately and crosses his arms.

“Follow me, idiot.” He turns then, expecting Naruto to pursue. Kankuro looks at Kiba with a a raised eyebrow as if to say ‘the fuck crawled up this guys ass?’ But Kiba just shakes his head. He’s used to their antics. It’s best not to interfere. Naruto will follow Sasuke, and the whole cycle will repeat again. 

“No,” announces Naruto, and continues with his meal. Sasuke pauses and his entire back stiffens. 

“No?” His voice has risen slightly, edging into shrill.

“No. I’m talking with my friends.” He gestures to the four of them. “If you wanted to talk to me, you could have sat down. But it looks like there’s no room at this table anymore. So, tough.” Naruto is petulant. And Kiba is dazzled. Naruto and Sasuke argue all the time, but in the end it’s the latter who always gets his way. Maybe Naruto was done with conceding. “Anyway,” he continues, completely ignoring Sasuke now. “About the match, we’ll save you guys some good seats to watch the action. You’ll wanna see it when we smash Slytherin to pieces!” 

Sasuke’s eyes widen with frustration, and for a moment Kiba sees him briefly focus that anger on Gaara’s unresponsive back. But instead of saying anything, he storms out of the Great Hall, not bothering to return to his own table. 

Naruto’s side eyes him the whole way, until he turns the corner and is out of sight. 

—

Slytherin is smashing them to pieces, with Sasuke within mere feet of the snitch as he flits around the pitch. Kiba swears the Uchiha has some kind of super sight, as he doesn’t know how he managing it in this weather. The rain buckets down around them as they struggle to stay afloat amongst the raging wind. Kiba can barely make out the crowds in the towers, never mind a bludger, until he spots a Slytherin Beater pelt one in what he spies to be Naruto’s direction. 

But he’s facing the other way, and while Kiba shouts, the rain carries away the warning. It’s going to hit Naruto in the head, too busy as he is watching the Slytherin Seeker finally reach his target, catching the snitch. Sasuke immediately casts a smug look at Naruto. But, it’s quickly erased by fear as he notices the approaching bludger too. Sasuke shoots into a drastic dive to reach him, but it’s not going to be enough. 

Kiba can only watch with panic. It’s true his friend has superior healing, thanks to his curse, but there had to be limits to even that. He’d seen people who’d been hit in the head with bludgers before, and they’d not been the same again. Desperate, he outstretches his hand. Long strings of magic shoot from his fingers and beam across the distance to wrap around the projectile. It’s moving fast, and his core lurches when he uses all his strength to grab hold of the bludger and pull. It slows slightly and he keeps tugging until he feels like all the magic that should be within him is instead stretched across the pitch strengthening the thick glowing blue strands. 

The bludger stops in mid-air, not two feet from Naruto’s surprised eyes. The blue glow fades as the ball drops, and with it evaporates Kiba’s magic, like it has been washed away to the earth with the rain. Sasuke reaches Naruto and their teammates look around, puzzled, wondering what exactly had just happened. 

But Kiba isn’t aware of this. He suddenly feels empty, like his core has been scrubbed out with metal scourers. He distantly remembers Kankuro telling him about how difficult it is to regulate wand-less magic, and how quickly you can overdo it. Kiba wants to look for him in the crowd, wants to ask him if it’s supposed to feel this bad. But instead he brings a hand to his chest, and the other to his nose where he can feel warm liquid, not the cold rain, running over his top lip. He wipes away a glob of blood that spews from his nose. Then his legs lose their strength, and he is falling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short one, to ease me back into this. I estimate 6 chapters now, but will decide after a bit more planning tomorrow.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiba wakes from his fall.

In was with great embarrassment, and minimal bitterness, that Kiba would admit to never having been kissed. That’s not to say he hadn’t tried. Oh, he’d tried. But every crush he’d harboured, every confession he’d made, had been squashed quickly by the other party. And now, at almost seventeen, he dreaded the summer’s approach as it spelled another year of rejection from his peers while everyone else was coupling up without him. His friends assured him there was nothing wrong with him and it would happen one day; with the right person. 

“Someone not scared of being infected, you mean?”

And it was only Naruto, out of all of them, who hadn’t looked away awkwardly at that. Who’d looked him dead in the eye and spoke truthfully. “Yeah,” he said. “Someone who’s not a prejudiced dick, and who’ll like you for who you are. It’s amazing, when that happens.” Kiba rolled his eyes as Naruto ducked his head down to hide his blush.

“Please tell me you aren’t talking about that Uchiha kid,” he groaned. “Maybe he doesn’t care that you’re possessed by a demon, but he literally hates Gryffindors for like extremely vague reasons.” 

“Well, nobody’s perfect.” 

“Right.”

“Except he is a perfect kisser.”

“Please stop, I actually might get jealous of you and Uchiha Sasuke.”

“Well, Sasuke would never kiss you.” Naruto nodded his head sagely, before adding hastily and raising his hands in surrender. “But not because you’re a werewolf! Because he says you smell like dog, and you’re covered in hair…No offence.”

Kiba clutched his sideburns with wounded feelings, while Akamaru huffed at his feet. “Actually, I take great offence! It’s taken years to get this scruff where I want it!”

“Well, at least it’s helpful to know there’s other reasons people won’t snog you, apart from the whole lycanthropy business?” Naruto then hopped down from the chilly windowsill they were perched on. “Poppycock,” he spoke, and the Fat Lady’s portrait swung open. The boisterous din of a party echoed from Gryffindor Tower, in celebration of a victorious Quidditch match, but a reminder of the girl who’d rejected Kiba not twenty minutes earlier. “Let’s head back.” He waited by the door, until Kiba sighed and slid off the windowsill himself, ready to face his embarrassment once again. Naruto slung an arm around his shoulder and they walked up the stairs together, Akamaru trotting ahead of them. 

It’s this memory that welcomes Kiba as he drifts back into consciousness to a wet pair of lips firmly attached to his own. And it’s a disconnected recognition that he’s having his first kiss. 

And it’s weird. The angle is off, like it’s sideways. And the lips aren’t moving, just latched over his own like the sucker of an octopus. It isn’t good. There’s drool. And his face is wet. He tries to open his eyes and catches a glimpse of blonde hair, and chokes when he suddenly feels the most uncomfortable pressure in his throat and lungs as air is suddenly and violently blown into his lungs. 

Eyes surging open and gagging, he lunges upwards and knocks his forehead hard into the skull of his best friend, who shrieks painfully, and then joyfully as he wraps his arms around Kiba when he realises he’s awake.

“You’re alive!”

“What the-?“ 

He’s sitting on the Quidditch pitch, right beneath the Ravenclaw spectator stand. A few first years look down at him anxiously from above, although he can’t make out much more than that as the rain is still pelting down, although in a lighter spray than before. His friend releases him from his embrace just as Shizune, the school nurse, arrives at their side. There’s a pain in his head and he feels exhausted, but he’s otherwise okay. Nothin feels broken, like it probably should had he fallen from the height of the goalposts. Shizune is pulling a familiar milky draught from her medical satchel. An energising draught. 

“What happened? Wh-why were you kissing me?!”

“CPR! I thought you were dead!” A few others have landed behind Naruto, and suddenly Sasuke, of all people, is helping prop him up against the wooden stand. The game above them has come to a halt, and all the players are on the ground. The Gryffindor’s are heading over in his direction, with the victorious Slytherin’s high-fiving their way to the changing rooms, uninterested in a injured opponent. 

“It was the kiss of life!”

“There was no need to administer such muggle techniques, especially as he was still breathing,” informed Shizune, as she tipped the concoction into Kiba’s mouth. His head was beginning to hang forward, as exhaustion gripped him once again. “You actually could have done even worse damage had he not woken up immediately. Try not to ‘kiss’ your friend under medical grounds again. You should know it’s unnecessary with magical healing.”

Sasuke clicked his tongue at this, and released Kiba before angrily stalking away with a muttered ‘asshole’ under his breath. “Sasuke!” Naruto calls after him. “Sasuke!” 

Kiba clutched his head in his hands, groaning. “Please stop shouting and go after him, if you are so concerned.” Sasuke stormed away as a dark figure elbowed his way through the crowd. “I’ll be fine,” he said as he locks weak-lidded eyes with none other than Kankuro, who has wasted no time pushing Naruto aside to kneel at Kiba’s hip. Kiba is tugged upwards by the front of his uniform until he raised a half foot off the ground. He wrapped his own fingers around Kankuro’s fists in dismay. 

He was angry.

“What the fuck were you thinking using wand-less magic like that, you absolute idiot? How many times did I tell you- how many times?! ‘Don’t strain yourself with a moving target, it’s really dangerous.’ You could have died! I didn’t teach you this stuff so you could go and kill yourself with your own stupidity! Asshole! You fucking fucking idiot! I ALMOST DIDN’T CATCH YOU!” Kankuro’s faceprint has smudged in the rain, and a smear of blood ran under his own nose, turning his face into a grotesque gargoyle-like mask. 

“Stop that, young man. He’s been through enough.” With a tap of her wand, Kankuro’s hands were released. “Ouch,” he cried. “What the fuck?” With his hands now magically strapped to his thighs, it was easy to see the thin rivets of gouged flesh that ran across the back of them, and the sharp claws that protruded from the end of Kiba’s fingers. 

Kankuro looked at the claws with wide eyes, and Kiba quickly tucked his shaking hands under his armpits. “Can we go inside now?” A heavy lump settled in his throat. He couldn’t risk looking at Kankuro, and only noticed idly that the Uagadou instructor, Baki, had arrived on the scene. Whispers echoed around him, and when he looked up, Kankuro was being dragged from the scene. He focused fully on the nurse, struggling to ask he if they could leave, as she nodded and touched his shoulder, apparating them immediately back to the hospital wing. 

—

He got detention for his little stunt, he was informed, after Shizune had cleaned the blood from under his nose and and prodded him to change into dry clothes. The nurse prescribed a night in the hospital wing, and three rounds of energising draughts. He’d expelled his magic too quickly trying to stop the bludger, and it’d drained all his energy enough that he’d burst blood vessels in his nose and eyes, then passed out. 

Kiba’s claws hadn’t retracted, and he stared at them periodically through the night in the moonlight, imagining the drops of blood that had strained them earlier were still there. He worried for Kankuro, worried if his hands were okay, if he too was exhausted. Shizune had gone to check on him in the Uagadou wing, which was apparently near the greenhouses. His hands had been healed without scarring, and due to his own successful attempt at slowing Kiba’s descent to the ground, was on his own slightly less aggressive round of energising draughts. 

Kiba hid his hands under the blanket wrapped around him. “Did he-Did he ask about- Um, never mind.”

“He didn’t ask about you, no,” said Shizune. Kiba deflated on the bed. “He was sleeping.” He thanked her, then turned over and tried to sleep himself. 

When he returned to Gryffindor Tower the next morning, he’s surprised to see Naruto awake in front of the burnt-up ashes of the fireplace. It’s a Sunday, usually a lie-in for the pair, and Naruto tiredly smiles as Kiba sits opposite him and asks the fireplace to start up again. The warmth feels nice on his face, and his toes, as he pulls them out of his hospital-issued slip-on sandals. His feet have also half-morphed into pointy claws which, unfortunately, had shredded through his quidditch shoes yesterday. 

Naruto chuckled at the sight. “Sick,” he says. “But why are you all…half-wolfy?” He gestures to Kiba’s lengthly sideburns and scruffy eyebrows, then pinches his own chin. “You’ve got a hefty goatee going on. I’m jealous.” 

Kiba sighed. “Shizune says I exhausted myself so much I basically killed what little barrier I had between myself and the wolf. I’ll likely stay like this until the full moon, where I can transform fully.” 

“That sucks, bro.” Naruto stares into the fire. “And you got detention?”

“Yup,” says Kiba, popping the end of the word. “And, I accidentally scratched Kankuro with my claws, outing myself to him and making him undoubtedly hate me now.”

“Kiba, I’m sure he doesn’t hate you.” 

“Yeah, I only lied to him for months, about being a werewolf.”

“I mean, I could look over that? And anyway, he can’t hate you as much as Sasuke hates the both of us right now.”

“That’s your fault for kissing me, dumbass!”

“I was trying to save you life!”

“I was fine! Kankuro saved me from being seriously injured anyway, he slowed my fall to the ground.”

“That was actually pretty cool…and thanks for not allowing me to get hurt either. No one wants a bludger to the head. You saved me too.” 

“..Anytime.”

“I’d kiss you anytime too, by the way. If Kankuro won’t. Although I think you got him wrong, he adores you.” Kiba makes a sound of disgust, refusing to think any more on the matter, after a sleepless night doing exactly that.

“First off, that kiss was disgusting. And secondly, kissing me won’t do you any favours with Sasuke. What the hell is going on with you two?”

It was Naruto’s turn to sigh, before he leaned forward and put his head in his hands with a groan of embarrassment. “It was me. I gave him an ultimatum, like Sakura said I should, and he refused. So I called it off for a bit. It was dumb really, and now he’s really mad at me.” He scrubbed his fingers through his hair. 

“What did you guys even argue about in the first place?”

“Like I said, it’s dumb.…He wouldn’t sit with me at the Gryffindor table.”

“…That’s it?”

“…Yeah. He said it was humiliating. Even though I sit with him all the time at the Slytherin table!”

“…So this whole time, you guys haven’t been talking, or anything, is because he won’t sit with you. At the Gryffindor table.”

“Yes,” pouted Naruto, but with a downcast expression. Kiba was used to the two and their seemingly ridiculous arguments. But this held more weight for Naruto, he could see that.

“Well then,” Kiba announced. “He’s being a prat! I don’t think you’re asking for much. What’s wrong with Gryffindors, eh?! We’re Gryffindors!”

“Exactly!” Naruto is animated again. “He can date a Gryffindor but he’s can’t sit at the table! It’s ridiculous! But…” He deflates then. “Maybe I should just give in. I miss him.”

“Don’t give in,” advises Kiba. “But yeah, I get you.” He eyes the bowl of pink apples that sits on the large coffee table to their left. “I get you.”

—

The full moon comes quickly, and Kiba finds himself letting lose all the tension of the weekend with a hurtling run through the forest. His fur is a russet red, and it’s grabbed by low-hanging branches as he cuts through a thicket of trees near his favourite creek. It’s nearly morning now, and he has been running all night, eager to distract himself from the worries that plague him. The water is clear and cold, having crawled through the high valley on it’s way to the lake. Greedily, he laps it up as he pauses to catch his breath. 

A twig breaks somewhere in the clearing. He stills, listening. There it is again, right in front of him. Crack! He lifts his head and looks. 

Kankuro is looking back at him.

He’s crouched across the stream, dressed entirely in black as usual, and all Kiba can see are the markings on his face as he moves into the moonlight. 

“Don’t go,” he says, taking another step forward. 

Kiba is pressed low to the ground, panic running though him and intending to bolt. No one except his family, not even Naruto or Kurenai, has ever seen him in this form. He’s suddenly self-conscious, and inches backward, slowly. Maybe Kankuro doesn’t know it’s him, thinks he’s some kind of wild wolf running though the forest. What is Kankuro doing in the forest? There’s all manner of things here that could harm him. 

Including him. 

He edges away quickly now, eyes darting for the quickest exit through the trees. Kankuro’s hands are moving and suddenly his paws have glued themselves to the muddy bank. He jolts back, remembering the last time his feet had been stuck to the ground and how he’d almost suffocated under those heavy trophies. 

But Kankuro had saved him then…

And he’d saved him at the quidditch match…

“Kiba,” whispers Kankuro, approaching him. He lays his steady hand on the top of his head, right between his ears. Kiba’s eyes widen and he jerks his head away. 

He knows. 

“Kiba!” Kankuro grabs his head and forces him to look him in the eye. “I want you to listen to me. I want you to know, I always had an idea you were a werewolf. Or at least…I’ve known for a long time. Since before I’ve been training with you. I wasn’t shocked the other day because I realised that fact, I was just surprised because I hadn’t seen a physical manifestation like that before, but I was so rattled from seeing you fall from the sky like that. It scared me! So, listen to me. I’m okay with you, and who you are. Like this.”

Kiba whined, and tried to shake his head out of Kankuro’s grip. Kankuro released him, but didn’t stop talking. “Kiba, I so okay with it. I don’t care. I needed to come here to tell you that. And there’s something else I want to tell you, but I want to wait until you have less…snout.” Kiba stills, and Kankuro takes the opportunity to rest his forehead on Kiba’s furry one. “Not that you aren’t…cute. Just…I’d much prefer to kiss your slightly-less hairy self,” he chuckles. 

Wait…Kankuro wanted to…kiss him? Kiba? Kiba the werewolf? Knowing he was a werewolf? His heart lifts and, unknowingly, his ears perk up. Kankuro laughs again. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but do wolves also wag their tails when they’re happy?”

Kiba’s tail was thumping loudly against the hard packed soil, and embarrassingly he couldn’t get it to stop, no matter how hard he tried. He groaned again, and lay down to cover his eyes with his paws. Seems he had been freed from whatever magical hold Kankuro put him under, and instead trapped in this fresh hell where he was stuck in his wolf body and his crush had just confessed in front of him. 

“Sorry for ambushing you, by the way.” Kankuro looked sheepish, or as much as he could with the ghoulish face paint on. “I’ve been tracking you through this forest all night when I realised you weren’t at school, and you’re like really fast.” Kiba lowered his paws at the compliment and stood tall, ready to bound into the forest again and run, and howl his happiness to the moon. 

Instead he bounced in place, and feeling mischievous, proceeded to lick a long stripe from the bottom of Kankuro’s chin all the way to his forehead, knocking off his hood. Short bristles of hair brushed against his tongue, along with the oily taste of the purple faceprint. “Yuck,”said Kankuro. “Do you really want that to count as our first kiss? Are you serious? Get over here!” Kankuro lunged for him, but Kiba sprang out of the way and took off, waiting at the edge of the clearing for the other to follow him into the night. 

—

Morning came, and with it the end of the full moon cycle. Inside the small grotto, two figures slept peacefully, having only collapsed into the cot not two hours before. Kiba scratches his now human nose and snuggles backwards into the embrace of Kankuro behind him. The arm around his middle tightens around him before Kankuro too shuffles awake, and pulls Kiba even closer. 

Then Kankuro stills entirely. 

Kiba still also, ready for Knakuro to thrown him aside with the realisation that he was holding a werewolf. It was sobering and Kiba waits, ready for Kankuro’s declaration that he’s made a terrible mistake. 

He bites the silver bullet. “Are you okay?” 

Kankuro runs a slow hot hand across his Kiba’s sternum. “Are you…naked?” 

Kiba launches himself from the cot, desperately trying to wrap the one blanket around his hips. “Oh, Merlin! Don’t look!” But Kankuro is looking, and grinning like a cat who got the cream. He rises from the cot to follow.

“Hey, I fell asleep beside a literal wolf, and as cosy as that was, this is a much better sight to wake up to.” Kankuro advances towards him, and Kiba retreats until his back bumps against the wooden wall. But in his hands is only a black cape-like shawl, which he’d been wearing the night before. He drapes it across Kiba’s shoulders. 

Kiba’s face is on fire as he rushes to fix the shawl in place until he covered to the other boy, except for his bare legs sticking out the bottom. He notices his toes have gone back to normal and he wiggles them happily. When he looks up, Kankuro has yet to back away at all.

He take his hands, leans in and brushes his lips against Kiba’s.

It’s a proper first kiss. At least, it’s how Kiba expected it. Steady pressure. Slight movement. The scent of vanilla, burnt wood and the oiliness of Kankuro’s faceprint on his lips. Kankuro pulls back with a brief smack, and smiles. “I just wanted you to know, that I like you.”

“…You like me?”

“I like you.”

Kiba bows his head and presses his forehead to Kankuro’s staring into his eyes, and unable to straighten the smile on his mouth. He tries anyway, intending to respond to Kankuro with all seriousness. “I like you too then,” he says, failing and deliriously giggling though the words anyway. They laugh into each other’s mouths before Kiba draws Kankuro back into another kiss.

—

Breakfast is a humble affair. Kiba and Kankuro shyly walk into the hall together and sit at the table beside their friends. Naruto catches Kiba’s eye and flicks his head at Kankuro’s direction. The triumphant grin on Kankuro’s face is very telling, along with Kiba’s blushing red neck. Kiba nods his head back at Naruto, who proceeded to plonk his spoon back into his bowl and slap Gaara on the back beside him. 

“I knew it!” 

Gaara doesn’t get the chance to ask Naruto what he’s talking about, as suddenly the boys arm is lifted from his shoulder. Then, none other that Sasuke forces his way onto the bench between the two. It’s incredibly awkward and inelegant, and everyone on that side has to shuffle down to make room. Even Gaara, and he looked like he shuffled down fro no one. 

Naruto’s mouth gapes open as Sasuke helps himself to a bowl and some cereal, settling in for breakfast at the Gryffindor table. 

“Wha-?” 

“Shut up, idiot,” is all Sasuke says in explanation. And Kiba notices with a grin that his right hand and Naruto’s left are still intertwined under the table, Sasuke not having return it after removing it from Gaara shoulder. Gaara barely blinks, and continues eating his fruit as if nothing has happened. But Kiba isn’t going to let this go lightly. 

“Well, well, well,” he teases. “Looks like someone has finally decided to slum it with the Gryffindors.”

The glare Sasuke sends his way could cut ice. “Shut up, mongrel.”

And Kiba has the delightful view of the Slytherin’s eyes almost popping out of his head as an unknown force drags his torso clear across the table, spilling orange juice all over it’s surface. 

“Call him that again,” Kankuro threatens, having brought Sasuke’s face right up to his own without even touching him. “And I’ll drag you out of this Hall by your balls.” He throws Sasuke back onto the bench and to a grumbling Naruto who quickly chastises Sasuke for embarrassing him in front of all the Gryffindors. 

Kankuro casts an arm possessively around Kiba’s shoulders and makes a show of glancing around the room at anyone who dared watch the commotion. He smiles wickedly before leaning down and whispering hotly into Kiba’s ear.

“So, I hear there’s this cupboard by the Gryffindor Common Room…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you very much for reading! I hope everyone enjoyed this. Hit me up on Tumblr is you wanna chat about it. i had more headcanons but no real time to read them. Let me know if theres any mistakes! I'm known for typos and skim-editing. 
> 
> (Also well aware you can't apparate in Hogwarts, but I figured it would make sense for the school nurse to be able to.)


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